PET to assess early response to ipilimumab nivolumab in renal cancer
Research type
Research Study
Full title
PET to assess early response to ipilimumab nivolumab in renal cancer
IRAS ID
219211
Contact name
Natalie Charnley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, days
Research summary
The anti cancer drug nivolumab activates the immune system to enhance tumour killing. In patients with incurable kidney cancer that has spread away from the kidney (metastatic), nivolumab has been shown to be superior to the standard treatment when first line anti cancer drug fails.
Positron emission tomography scanning uses labelled glucose to assess tumour activity. Glucose uptake may increase during an 'inflammatory' immune response. It would be useful to use PET to see if there is an 'inflammatory response to nivolumab. It is possible that an increase in glucose uptake would lead to improved response. As there is now an alternative drug , cabozantanib available second line, PET may be used to guide treatment decisions.
10 Patients with metastatic renal cancer will be recruited, eligible for second or third line treatment with nivolumab, following previous treatment with an anticancer drug.
They will have a PET CT scan at baseline and then at 2 weeks, then 3 monthly as we would for standard imaging. We can get additional data about tumour blood flow by reporting the CT scans in a standardized wayREC name
West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/WM/0051
Date of REC Opinion
28 Feb 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion